Court verdict in Indian gang rape case next week

NEW DELHI (AP) — A fast-track court will issue a verdict next week in the trial of four men accused in the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman on a moving bus in New Delhi last year.

Altaf Qadri

FILE – In this Dec. 22, 2012 file photo, Indian schoolchildren hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the Dec. 16 gang rape and beating of a young woman on a city bus in New Delhi, India. A fast-track court said Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, it will give a verdict next week in the trial of four men accused in the gang rape and fatal beating of the woman on a New Delhi bus last year. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

FILE – In this Dec. 22, 2012 file photo, Indian schoolchildren hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the Dec. 16 gang rape and beating of a young woman on a city bus in New Delhi, India. A fast-track court said Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, it will give a verdict next week in the trial of four men accused in the gang rape and fatal beating of the woman on a New Delhi bus last year. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2012 file photo, protesters gather outside the Indian Presidential Palace during a protest against the gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi, India. A fast-track court said Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, it will give a verdict next week in the trial of four men accused in the gang rape and fatal beating of the woman on a New Delhi bus last year. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal, File)

"The judge has said he will give his verdict on Sept. 10," said A.P. Singh, a lawyer for two of the defendants.

Police say the 23-year-old female medical student and a male friend were attacked when they boarded a private bus they thought would take them home after watching a movie at a shopping mall on Dec. 16.

Six attackers beat the man and raped the woman, inflicting massive internal injuries with a metal bar, police said. The victims were dumped on the roadside, and the woman died two weeks later in a Singapore hospital.

One of the accused was found dead in his jail cell in March and a juvenile defendant was sentenced last Saturday to three years in a reform home.

The four remaining men face possible death penalties.

The assault caused nationwide outrage and forced the government to change rape laws and create fast-track courts for rape cases. The new law introduced after the December attack makes stalking, voyeurism and sexual harassment a crime. It also provides for the death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim's death.